Robert T. Johnson (lawyer)

Justice Robert T. Johnson
New York Supreme Court Justice
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2016
Bronx County District Attorney
In office January 1, 1989[1] – December 31, 2015
Preceded by	Paul Gentile
Succeeded by	Darcel Clark
Personal details
Born	Robert Thomas Johnson 1948 The Bronx, New York City United States
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	City College of New York (B.A.) New York University School of Law (J.D.)
Occupation	Lawyer
Known for	longest serving Bronx County District attorney, refusal to seek the death penalty, helping to arrange his successor's election
Military service
Service/branch	U.S. Navy

Robert Thomas Johnson (born 1948) is a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court in the county of the Bronx. He was previously a New York City Criminal Court judge, an acting justice of the New York State Supreme Court, and a long-time Bronx County District Attorney in New York City.^[2]

Early life

Johnson was born in the Bronx, and grew up in the Amsterdam Houses, a housing project on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.^[3] He went to James Monroe High School,^[3] then enlisted in the United States Navy in 1968, and went on to graduate from the City College of New York with a bachelor's degree in philosophy.^[4] In 1975, he graduated from the New York University School of Law.^[3]

Career

Upon graduating from law school, Johnson went to work as a defense attorney for the Legal Aid Society.^[1] In 1978, he became a prosecutor for the Bronx County District Attorney's office, eventually rising to the rank of Narcotics Bureau chief.^[3]

Johnson was appointed a New York City Criminal Court judge in 1986 by Mayor Edward Koch. He later served as an Acting New York Supreme Court Justice.^[1][3]

Bronx County District Attorney

In 1988, Johnson ran for the office of Bronx County District Attorney, and won the Democratic primary election in September, which virtually guaranteed him of winning the general election in November.^[3] He was elected without opposition, as no Republican candidate had even filed to run in the race, making him the first African-American to be elected to the position of District Attorney in New York State.^[5][6] He was re-elected six times, often without opposition.^[7]

In 2005, he became the longest-serving Bronx County District Attorney.^[1]

Johnson was criticized at times for his performance as district attorney, with judges specifically criticizing his management and policies, noting that his office had a high rate of cases which it declined to prosecute.^[7] At the end of his tenure, Bronx prosecutors were winning jury trials less than half the time, a rate significantly lower than any other borough in New York City,^[7] and had a high percentage of dismissed cases and a persistent crippling backlog that affected both defendants and crime victims.^[8]

Dispute over the death penalty with New York Governor Pataki

On March 14, 1996, New York City police officer Kevin Gillespie was shot to death in the Bronx, and three men were immediately arrested in his killing. Ex-convict Angel Diaz was named as the gunman. The next day, Republican Governor George Pataki was publicly pressuring Johnson, an opponent of the death penalty, to seek it against Diaz, and threatening to take the case away from Johnson if he refused to do so.^[9] Johnson wrote in a letter to Pataki that he wanted the 120 days allotted under New York State law to decide whether or not to seek the death penalty, and threatened to take Pataki to court if he tried to remove him from the case.^[10] The following day, Pataki followed through on his threat and removed Johnson from the case, assigning it to Dennis Vacco, the New York State Attorney General.^[11] In response, Johnson sued Pataki for jurisdiction over the case.^[12]

Several weeks later, Vacco announced that he intended to pursue the death penalty,^[13] and the following day New York State Supreme Court Justice Howard Silver upheld Pataki's decision to remove Johnson from the case as within his authority.^[14]

In September 1996, Diaz hung himself in his jail cell,^[15] ending the practical aspects of the dispute. The two men arrested with Diaz, Ricardo Morales and Jesus Mendez, were eventually convicted of several charges including second degree murder in May 1997 and sentenced to mandatory life in prison,^[16] and on appeal, the New York Court of Appeals upheld Pataki's removal of Johnson as constitutional in December 1997.^[17]

Exit from the Bronx County District Attorney's office

As early as 2013, there were reports of an arrangement for Johnson to resign as Bronx County District Attorney in return for a seat as a New York State Supreme Court Justice in the Bronx. The plan was in coordination with then New York State Assemblyman Carl Heastie, who was also the Bronx Democratic Party leader and therefore held final say over Democratic electoral politics in the Bronx.^[7]

Nevertheless, Johnson ran for re-election in 2015 for another term as Bronx County District Attorney, and faced no opposition in the primary elections on September 10, which he won be default. Exactly one week later, on September 17, Johnson announced that he wanted to become a state judge. The announcement was met with severe and swift criticism by good government advocates, who said it was a transparent scheme engineered by Johnson and Democratic party power brokers to make sure the party could get the replacement district attorney of their own choice, not that of the voters.^[18][19] After receiving the judicial nomination by the Bronx Democratic Party the following week,^[20] Johnson then announced his resignation from his district attorney position. Under New York State Law, since the primary election had already taken place, the county parties named Johnson's replacements on the ballot, bypassing the voters.^[21] The replacement on the Democratic line was Darcel Clark, and in the heavily Democratic Bronx, she won the District Attorney's office by a landslide in the general election.^[22]

New York Supreme Court Justice

Johnson's term on the Supreme Court ends in 2030.^[23] However, under New York law he will have to retire no later than December 31, 2018, at the end of the calendar year during which he will reach the age of 70. He will then be eligible to continue in office on senior status, without having to be re-elected, for three two-year periods.

Personal life

Johnson previously lived in Fordham Heights. In 1994 he moved to the former house of Mario A. Procaccino, a candidate for Mayor of New York City, that was located in an area of the Bronx between Pelham and Pelham Bay Park. While Procaccino faced criticism for living in that area during his mayoral campaign, according to Jane Gross of The New York Times, Johnson did not face controversy for moving there since he had only token opposition during his next election campaign for district attorney.^[24]

References

1. "District Attorney's Biography". Bronx District Attorney's Office. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
2. "Judicial Directory - Judge of the Trial Courts". nycourts.gov. New York Unified Court System. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
3. Verhovek, Sam Howe (September 17, 1988). "Men In The News: Robert Thomas Johnson; 'Devastating Adversary'". New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
4. "Bronx D.A. Robert Johnson: A Lifetime of Service". Lehman College. November 26, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
5. Lynn, Frank (November 6, 1988). "New Yorkers Face a Busy Election Day". New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
6. "Congress and statehouses: politics around the nation". Christian Science Monitor. November 10, 1988. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
7. Rivera, Ray; Rashbaum, William K. (April 27, 2013). "Democrats Said to Discuss Plan for Bronx District Attorney to Resign". New York Times. p. A15. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
8. Hu, Winnie; McKinley, Jr., James C. (September 28, 2015). "Giving Up the Bench in Hopes of Bringing Justice to the Bronx". New York Times. p. A20. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
9. Krauss, Clifford (March 16, 1996). "Shootout in the Bronx: The Overview - 3 Men Held in Killing of Officer, Bringing Calls for Death Penalty". New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
10. Swarns, Rachel L. (March 21, 1996). "Prosecutor Resists Pataki Pressure on Death Penalty". New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
11. Swarns, Rachel L. (March 22, 1996). "A Killing in the Bronx: The Overview - Governor Removes Bronx Prosecutor From Murder Case". New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
12. LoLordo, Ann (March 25, 1996). "Prosecutor sticks to his convictions Death penalty: Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson opposes the death penalty and has declined to seek it in capital crimes, leading to a showdown with New York Gov. George E. Pataki.". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
13. Dao, James (July 9, 1996). "Vacco Seeks Death Penalty In Police Officer's Shooting". New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
14. Nossiter, Adam (July 11, 1996). "Court Upholds Removal Of Prosecutor From Case". New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
15. Swarns, Rachel L. (September 6, 1996). "Man Held in Police Death Is Found Hanged in Jail". New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
16. "2 Guilty in Murder of Bronx Policeman". New York Times. May 2, 1997. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
17. "Matter of Johnson v. Pataki". Justia US Law. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
18. Mueller, Benjamin (September 19, 2005). "Robert Johnson, Bronx District Attorney, Says He Wants to Become a State Judge". New York Times. p. A15. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
19. Randolph, Eleanor (September 21, 2015). "Let the Voters Decide? Nah, Not in the Bronx". New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
20. McKinley, James C., Jr. (September 25, 2015). "Bronx District Attorney and Judge May Trade Roles". New York Times. p. A28. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
21. Pastor, Kate (October 2, 2015). "Bronx District Attorney Candidate Defends Her Nomination by Democratic Leaders". New York Times. p. A24. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
22. "Statement and Return Report for Certification - General Election 2015 - Bronx County - All Parties and Independent Bodies District Attorney - Bronx" (PDF). vote.nyc.ny.us. Board of Elections in the City of New York. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
23. "Robert T. Johnson on Ballotpedia". ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia - The Encyclopedia of American Politics.
24. Gross, Jane (1997-05-06). "A Tiny Strip of New York That Feels Like the Suburbs". New York Times. Retrieved June 28, 2016. (Archive)